Moistener for gummed strips and the like



Dec. 2, 1930. I R. R; SHAY I 1,783,679

uorsmmsn FOR GUMMED STRIPS AND THE LIKE I Original Fil'd Jan. 28. 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Dec. 2, 1930.

R. R. SHAY KOISTENER FOR GUMMED STRIPS AND THE LIKE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Original FiledJan. 28. 1928 lllflllllmmllllllll M A;

I machine.

U I D" ATES? 3 i OFFICE.

RALPH R. SHAY, on CHICAGO, i LINoI S; ASS GNOR, -1Y- MESN ASSIGNMENTS, ro

THOMAS A. EARNING; an, OF "CHICAG ILLINOIS moISrnnER ts euIMMEIJ srriurs AND THE LIKE A ppli-cation filedjiani aryzgli28,-Se1jia1No.250,258., Renevvedi1pril 12, 1930.-

7' This invention has} to -do withfirnprove' ments in moisteners forE-guihmed strips and the like. It 'has'reference particularly toimprovements in moisteners for inoistening among other things, for delivering strips of gummed paper for sealing packages an'dl the like.- g The moistener herein disclosed isadapted to moistenthe gummed surface of the strip at a position immediatelybeyond the cutting blades by which "the stripisfsevere'd from tionsf :One of the objects-of the inve'ntion is to provide a moisteneras 1a unitjcapabl'e of ready attachmenttojother portions of Another object 'of the invention to-pro vide a-mois'tener having a 'v'vick by meansof which the moisture}isfcarriedup from the" bath and is -delivered to'ia capillary surface over which the gummedsurface of the strip isvdrawn. This wickvand'this capil-lary'surface are formed as a 'single element' so as-to more effectively deliver the-moisture to the desired point; and, further, these parts are so arranged thatthey may be" adjusted from time to time inorderto present fresh sur? I order to compensate forw'ear and thelikeJ' f" faces to the .moistening; position in urallygassume a very advantageous and satadjustment. u

Another object'of the inventionisto pro-j. vide a chamber for thewater bath fwhich l ch'amberis so "constructed that itimay be' readily removed from or s et-backintoplace within the machine and with ut havingto' perform special- I, adjustments or manipulations to accomplish this'result' In this 6on nection, the chainber element itself is so eon structed thatwhen' set; into placeit Willi nat'a.

tape withthe wick surface. This element ltself is so constructed that itrmay undergo a considerable amount of freedom of move-v ment, especially in a vertical direction, but the gummed strips delivered from gummed Strip feeding machinessuch as are used,:

is so arranged that it will naturally lie on the tape strip in a manner to give the'de- I sired amount ofpressure at all times.

In connection with the foregoing, itis a ranged as'to take care of the desired amount the reel; but it will also appea'r'that features'o-f the present invention may be used in connection with moistene'rs for other loca of freedom of movement. I Other objects and uses" of the inventio Fig. 1 shows: a longitudinal 1 seetion f through the delivery *endportion of a paper strip. feeding machine' having appliedthereto a moisteningdevice 'embodyingltheflfeatures of the present inventi'on; Fig. 1 may also be considered as a sect'ionlon theline ,,-1 1 of'Fig; 3, looking'in the direction of the arrows; Fig. 2 is across I II I of Fig l, looking in the direction of the arrows;v

I a Fig. 3 1sa plan vlew corresponding to Fig. 4. shows the arrows;

Section: onsthe line i 30 z a cross section thezline' of Fig. 'l,"lookingin the direction of further object to provide spring means for v I -65 will appear from a detailed description of the same, which consists in the features of" 'Fig. 5"shows a-pers pective view of" the Wick and pressure plate elementya portion of thepressure platebeing broken away to .bet-

ter illustrate the mannerrin'which the wick itself isj Supported;:an'd" V 5 Fig. 6' shows plan 'view corresponding to Fig. *5,-but with the 'pressure'plate en-' tirelyxremoved 'or cut a'way.

The front portion the-paper strip feed- I r ingiinachine:isldesignated'in'its entirety by Anotherfeature of the invention relates to the provisionfo'f an improved flexibly, sup-*' ported bearing or pressureelement form suring the proper amount of contact of the the numeral-7. It has side plates18 rand- 9 and'a floorror base section 10, which to? machine. The front endof this chamber is open except for the presence of the moistening device and bath presently to be ex plained. The base member 10 is suitably supported, as by means of pedestal blocks 11.

The paper strip is fed downwardly through suitable guide chutes 12 and is de livered past the fixed and movable cutting blades 13 and 14, respectivelv, when said blades are separated by the proper actuating mechanism. The blade 14-is pivoted at the point 15 (see Fig. 3) and a spring 16 may be provided for drawing the blades together best shown in Fig. 5, leaving the side flanges 19 and 20, which are adapted to rest uponthe.

upper edge flanges 21 and 22 of the side plates '8 and 9 already referred to. These flanges 19 and 20 may be secured to the flanges 21 and 22 by means of screws 23 and 24 (see Fig. 3). Said screws are accommodated in slotted openings 25v and 26 of the flanges 19 and 20, and in order to facilitate adjustment and removal operations :said slotted openings may be enlarged at one end, as shown in Figs. 5 and 6. With this arrangement the screws 23 and 24 may be loosened up slightly and then the moistening devicemay be slipped baekwardly a short distance, whereupon it n be lifted bodily away from the frameof the machine.

The plate 17 is provided near its front edge with a relatively narrow slot 27, and

near its rear edge it is provided with an-' other slot 28. The latter slot is more or less covered over and protected by alip 29.

which is established by forming the metal of the plate 17 upwardly and curving it, as bestshown in Figs. 1, 5 and 6. Likewise, the front edge of the slotted opening 28 is more or less protected by a tongue 30."which is established by forming themetal down slightly, as shown in Fig. 1.

27 and 2-8 are for The foregoing openings the accommodation of a capillarywiek31.

Said wick is made of any suitable material, such as compacted felt, andis of width slightly less than the width of the openings 27 and 28. The thickness of this wick is preferably approximately the same as or slightly greater than the amount of offset at the position 18 so that the top surface of the wick lying across-said plate 18 will be advantageously presented to the advancing gummed strip. i

The wick is fed through the two openings 27 and 28, and between the tongues 29 and 30. The ends of the wick 32 and 33 are allowed to depend down into the water bath,

and preferably the depending portions of the wick are loosely clipped together, 'as by a sheet-metal clip 34. This clip is preferably rather loosely placed on the wick so as not to seriously interfere with its capillary function, and alsoto allow the wick to be adjusted from time to time.

There is a pressure plate 35 located above the plate 17 and overlying the tape as it advances acrossthe wick. This pressure plate 35 is preferably connected to the rear portion of the plate 17 by a pair of pins 36 and 37. The holes in' the plate 17 are made large enough, as shown in Fig. 6, to allow the necessary freedom of movement of these-pins so as to allow the pressure plate 35 to be raised a considerable amount, as shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 1. The pressure plate normally lies in the full-line position of Fig. 1, so that the paper strip will be firmly held against the wick.

Thereis a light spring 38 of strip spring metal laced between the bottom face of the plate 1 and the heads 39 and 40 on the lower ends of the pins 36 and 37, respectively. The central portion of thisbow spring is turned upwardly, as shown in Fig. 4, and presses against the bottom face of the plate 17, thus tending to pull down on the pins 36 and 37 The amount of this downward pull. is suiiicient to assist in holding the pressure plate down in the lowered position, and at the same time will allow said plate to adjust itself freelyas needed. Preferably the rear edge of the plate 17 is turned downwardly, as shown at 41 in Fig. 1, so as to assist in guiding the paper strip between the plate 17 and the pressure plate 35.

The .water a cup 42. Said cup includes a front plate 43, the width of which is suflicient to overlie the front ends of the side plates 8 and 9 (see Figs. 2- and This cup 42 is also provided with the lugs 44 and 45 which set down into companion sockets in the base 10. The bath naturally tends to tilt backwardly due'to the fact that itis supported in an off center position, and it therefore rests with the edges of its front plate 43supported against the front ends of the side plates 8 and 9.

The bath proper is established by means of the-sides 46 and 47, the back 48 and the bottom 49, the top of the bath being left open. Preferably'also the upper front edge 50 of the bath is cut away slightly so as toestablish an ample clearance at the point where the moistened tape is delivered.

It will be understood that the bath. may be readily lifted away from the remaining portions-of the machine so as to either replace the water orfor otherpurposes, such operabath is established by means of tion being permitted by the amount of clearance established at the upper end of the bath chamber. This operation is also facilitated by the fact that the depending. portions of the wick are very flexible andwill allow the same to be deflected forwards when the bath isinserted or removed.

In order to facilitate manipulation of the screws 23 and 24, the pressure plate may be provided with openings 51 and 52 in line with the openings 25 and 26 already referred to, said openings 51 and 52- being of proper size to allow the screws heads to be passed through them. 1

While I have herein shown and described only a single embodiment of the features of my present invention, still I do not intend to limit myself thereto except as Inlay do so and also having a transversely extending slot across the rear portion of saidchanneled port-ion, an upwardly and forwardly facing flange on the channeled portion reaching forwardly above the. rear slot aforesaid, a

downwardly and forwardly facing flange onthe channeled portion reaching rearwardly below the rear slot aforesaid, a capillary Wick comprising a strip of capillary material threaded through the two slots aforesaid,

and having its ends depending below the. paper guide and presser, element into the water bath, 'a clip surrounding the depending end portions of said wick, and a presser plate above the channeled plate and wick,

said presser plate having a pair of pins loosely extending through the rear portion of the channeled plate, together with a spring between said pins and the bottom face of the channeled plate tending to draw the presser plate down into contact with the wick where it passes acrossthe top fa'ceof the channeled plate, substantially as described. i

'2. In a deviceof theclass described,the

' combination of awater bath comprising a chamber open at its top, and a paper guide wardly and rearwardly extending flange on the channeled portion. reaching frearwardl below the rear channel slot, a capillary wic comprising a strip of capillary material threaded through the two slots of the channeled portion and having its ends depending below the paper guide and presser element into the water bath, and apresser plate above the channeled plate and wick, said presser plate having a pair of pins loosely extending through the rear portion of the channeled plate, together with a spring between said pins and the bottom faceof'the channeled plate tending to draw the presser plate' down towards the wick where it passes acrossithe' top face of the channeled lyas described.

3. In a device of the class described, the

combination of awater bath open at its top,

and a'paper guide and presser plateelement above said water bath, the'same comprising a plate-having its central portion depressed downwardly to establish an upwardly fac-' ing channel, and having a pair of transversely extending slots acrossthe front and rear. portions of the channeled portion aforesaid, acapillary wick comprising a strip so 7 plate, substantialof capillary material threaded through the 7 two slots ofthe channeled portion and lying across the top face of said channeled portion between the slots thereof, and having its ends depending into the water bath, and a presser plate above thechanneled plate and wick, and having its rear end loosely connectedto the rear portion of the channeled plate, and having its body portion lying on the wick at the point where it passes across the top face. of the channeled plate, substanti'ally as described.

i. In a device of the class described, the

' combination of a water bath open at its top,

and a paper guide and presserplate element above said water bath, the same comprising a lower plate having transversely extending slots'across its front and rear portions, a capillary wick extendingthrough said slots and lying across the top face of the plate and having its ends depending into the water bath, together with a presser plate above the -wick and the first mentioned plate, and hav ing its rear portion loosely connected to the rear portion'of the first mentionedplate, sub

stantially as described.

and presser element above said chamber, the

same comprising a plate" having its central portion depressed downwardly to establish an upwardly facing channel, and having transversely extending slots across the front and rear portions of the channeled portion aforesaid, an upwardly and forwardly facing flange on the channeled portionreach ing forwa'rdlyabove the rearslot, a down- RALPI-In. SHAY. 

